The top eight administrative positions in City College’s Continuing Education Division may be eliminated because of the Board of Trustees’ budget approval Thursday during a special session.
The termination of the positions awaits further approval by the board Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012.
“We, City College, have had to examine our wonderful, vibrant, rich and longstanding Continuing Ed program, and it cannot remain in status quo. It simply can’t,” Lori Gaskin said.
At Wednesday’s Academic Senate meeting, Superintendent-President Dr. Lori Gaskin revealed that 16 positions would be cut if the proposed budget passed. In an e-mail sent to The Channels this morning, Gaskin listed the positions being cut;
- Vice President of Continuing Education, Dr. Ofelia R. Arellano
- Dean of Instruction, Dr. Bonita Schaffner
- Director of Continuing Education, Jack Bailey
- Director of Continuing Education, Renata Funke
- Director of Continuing Education, Andrew Harper
- Director of Continuing Education, Francisco Martin del Campo
- 6 various Administrative Assistant positions
- Continuing Education Office Assistant
- Continuing Education Records Technician
- Continuing Education Assessment Coordinator
The board voted six to one in favor of the budget, which will reinvent the Continuing Education Division structure and result in the loss of six administrative and ten staff positions.
The college hopes to rehire seven of the staffers who would lose their positions within the next year, and have already reassigned one.
“We had two administrative directors for the Center for Life Long Learning pillar three classes, they were supporting hundreds of classes, hundreds of instructors, and thousands of students…but I don’t see those two positions in the reorganization that’s on your agenda today,” said Continuing Education student Derek Hedges.
The budget proposes to split the Continuing Education department into two separate programs. City College will absorb the higher continuing education courses such as ESL, basic skills, and vocational studies and offer them as free credit courses. All other courses will become self-sustaining classes offered at the Center for Life Long Learning.
–Erick Pirayesh contributed to this article.
